Music fans enjoyed a far from Perfect Day with the news that rock legend Lou Reed had died of a liver-related ailment.

The influential American musician, responsible for tracks like Walk on the Wild Side, last brought his gravelly vocals to the Sage in Gateshead in 2006.

And tributes to the star poured in from Tyneside-based fans of the singer.

“Not only did the Toon get beat today but just found out Lou Reed has died,” said Newcastle United fan Graham Shannon. “Not in any way a perfect day.”

Lou Reed, 71, was the frontman of seminal rock band the Velvet Underground, and had undergone a life-saving liver transplant earlier this year.

The band, who were active in the 1960s and 1970s, became known for their fusion of art and music, including collaborations with artist Andy Warhol.

Despite modest sales during their time together, the band developed a cult following and enjoyed posthumous acclaim for years after their final performance together. The band are regularly cited as among the greatest influences on contemporary rock music.

But Reed’s lyrics also drew criticism from those troubled with the content of some Velvet Underground songs - with themes of sexual ambivalence, sadomasochism and drug use described as particularly unpalatable.

Reed, who was notoriously difficult to interview, also spoke at length of his past alcohol and drug use, anecdotally recalled in the likes of the seven-minute ode to the class A drug Heroin while Venus in Furs and I’m Waiting for the Man also provoked concern from those of a conservative disposition.

As a solo artist, his work was revered, with singles from his David Bowie-produced Transformer album going on to score countless television programmes often unsuited and completely unconnected to the songs’ lyrical content.

It was an album which spawned Walk on the Wild Side - a tale of transsexual lust partly veiled by a soothing double bass, searing saxophone coda and serene backing vocals - and featured promiscuous artwork of a male model in a cowboy hat, believed - but unconfirmed - to be Reed.

Perhaps his greatest recognition came, bizarrely, with the help of M People singer Heather Small, who was one of several contributor vocalists on a cover version of Transformer’s Perfect Day, re-recorded for charity in 1997. The record spent three weeks at number one.

“The first Velvet Underground record sold 30,000 copies in the first five years,” Brian Eno, who produced albums by Roxy Music and Talking Heads among others, once said. “But I think everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band.”

An outlaw in his early years, Reed would eventually perform at the White House, have his writing published in The New Yorker magazine, be featured by the Public Broadcasting Service in an American Masters documentary and win a Grammy in 1999 for Best Long Form Music Video.